Carol’s Blog

Enjoy

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I always seem to be beating myself up at my failures. I don’t pray enough, I’m not as close to God as I should be. There are times I don’t read the Bible enough. There are some days I seem to have got it all together and others I fall apart spiritually. My trouble is i rely on my own strength and am not guided by the Holy Spirit. That gives me yet another reason to beat myself up!

So I haven’t made any New Year resolutions, rather I’m making one big one, I will revel and enjoy the love of God. Today I will look and enjoy the tiny daffodils just showing their heads. As I wait for my bus I won’t get impatient but enjoy the sound of the bird song and maybe stand in the weak January sun. Perhaps at some point I will see a baby I can smile or a harassed mother who can receive that same smile.

Today is a day for enjoying God. No guilt, no recriminations, just pleasure in the presence of my God.

Purpose

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As we have now entered into the New Year I wonder what the purpose of my life will be over the next twelve months. We all know the futility of making New Year resolutions. I believe they fail because they are so often self-centered. ‘I will lose weight,’ ‘I will spend less,’ or even ‘I will give more to charity.’ Any New Year resolution must be God-centered. It probably would be wise to ask God to write the list!

What does God have in mind for me this coming year? He alone knows when the difficult patches are coming and where I will need His extra care. It is in God’s provision when there will be sunny days and we will be full of rejoicing. It could be that illness will be looming on the horizon and to have lost too much weight would have been harmful Maybe there will be some heavy expenses coming and having saved money it will be useful.

How can I make resolutions about the future when I don’t know what the future will bring? I will leave it in God’s safe hands.

Baggage

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As holidays are again on the horizon we can all recall being in the departure areas of the airports. As we’ve walked in we’ve been trailing our cases and bags behind us. Our progress has been slow, hampered by our luggage. We wonder why we’ve packed so much, it now seems more heavy and cumbersome than when we started. Then we’ve joined the queue to dispose of our bags. Having conducted our business we’ve happily watched the cases disappear as they’ve travelled down the chute.

Suddenly we feel free. We can wander off to buy a coffee or browse the shops. We can speak to other travellers or watch the departing planesFreedom from our burdensome baggage is a relief.

Yet we all have a tendency to carry around emotional baggage. Guilt and worry about the past can drag us down; anxiety and fear about the future can become a burden. Yet we have a loving Father who longs to care for all this for us. We can enter the New Year ‘burdenless.’ We are not asked to carry our heavy spiritual loads, they are too heavy for us. Jesus said ‘Cast your burdens on me.’

Four Named Storms

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In my country (Britain) we have had four named storms in as many weeks. I know that in many parts of the world you will have experienced more, but it is unusual for us. But then there seems to be strange weather phenomena at the moment all round the world. I don’t have the figures but it appears we are experiencing more terrible ‘acts of God’ at the moment. (strange they are described as ‘acts of God’; a secret admission that there is a God) Of course God is in control, but our weather is in a mess, though It may be that the news from round the world is reaching us easier.

Earthquakes are more frequent and storms are more regular. We think of the recent erupting volcanos in Iceland and Japan and the disruption they caused. Wild fires happen annually in increasing numbers. Heavy storms appear in the news more often and global warming is definitely happening. It can be said that the world is groaning. This beautiful world which God created and declared as good and very good is not a happy place. We insignificant humans beings need the intervention of our Maker.

Time to Listen

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Anyone who has reached old age will know only too well the disadvantages. With old age comes less mobility, more pain, failing of mind or body and a general feeling of wearing out. But I can assure you there are many advantages. Firstly, we all know people who haven’t had the privilege of reaching their three score years and ten. One of the many pluses is that no longer do others have high expectations of us, which we can’t attain to. No longer are we CEO’s or world leaders. I still can’t get used to people offering me a seat on the bus, it used to be the other way round.

One of the greatest blessings is having time to listen to people. Three times recently people have gone out of their way to spend time with me and share their problems and worries. Maybe they didn’t want to burden families or maybe the family was the problem. I can’t say I’ve given any special words of wisdom or wonderful advice, but I’ve just listened. I have had the time. Sometimes we have been able to pray together and sometimes I’ve prayed for them later. Jesus is our example, He had time to listen to the woman at the well.

What Can I Give Him?

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‘What can I give Him, poor as i am? If i were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.’ I think of a local philanthropist whose wealth benefited many. As the owner of a large building firm he built many thousands of houses and buildings. He established a number of trusts which after his death helped many. I think of my friend and neighbour who is skilled with the needle and helps us by making curtains and altering clothes. Another neighbour is very good at baking and we are often presented with the results of her culinary efforts.

I’m not a builder, seamstress or baker. In all these respects I am a complete failure. But I am a great believer that everyone has a talent or gift. In the parable of the talents, the men had ten, five or one gift respectively. There was no-one who had no talent. It is our life-work to discover what our gift or even gifts are. With practice over the years our gifts will become more worthwhile. Whether they are large or small, their value is in giving them back to God for His service. He will use and multiply them. Remember another parable, the feeding of the Five Thousand.

Serving

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In the Bible, in Matthew 20:28 we are told ‘the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.’ I have believed that I too am called to serve. But things have changed, I can no longer serve in the way I have done in the past. No more can I entertain with generous meals. i don’t hold any particular role in the church. Instead of being the driver, I am the driven.

But all these things don’t mean I can’t serve, it doesn’t mean I can’t help others. It’s just that my service takes a different form. I can sometimes pour oil on troubled waters. My job now it to listen and not always lead and talk. I praise God that each morning I wake eager to see what adventures I will have with God on that day. After all a Christian never retires.

I Resolve

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It’s almost a joke; we make New Year Resolutions and then break them within days. We resolve to lose weight, be kinder to friends or start a new hobby. I wonder how many of these resolutions will reach February. This all points to how really weak we human beings are. If we can’t keep to these small changes, how can we ever turn our lives round for the better.

How often have we promised God we won’t act in a certain way only to stumble very quickly. It goes to show we can’t do it on our own. No wonder God said we are as frail as dust. We are weak while He is strong. We can’t make it on are own. Maybe the only New Year Resolution we need to make is to rely on God more.

2024

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As a teenager I never imagined I would be alive to see this date. When a young woman I had no thought of what it would like to reach my eighties. How good God has been. Firstly He has allowed me to get here while a number of my friends have died far too early. Then as the years have rolled by we have all had ‘weary ways and golden days;’ our lives have been like a roller-coaster. Our memories are precious, there has been so much happiness, parcelled up with sadness. Decades have been either good or bad.

But, praise be, one thing is constant. God has never changed; His love and care are never altering. Seasons have come and gone, fortunes have varied, hope has died and been replenished. Wars have replaced peace; peace has followed war. But our God is constant, reliable and unfailing.

I wish all my readers a blessed and peaceful New Year.

A Beautiful but Broken World

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As we look at the beauty of nature around us we rejoice as it is such a lovely world. We travel thousands of miles to see the wonders, the Grand Canyon, Japan in blossom time, Nigeria Falls and snow -capped mountains. But we don’t need to travel the world, the beauty is right here on our door-step. We see the wonderfully formed daisy in our own lawns or the robin accompanying us as we garden. We see the trees, bursting into leaf in the spring, giving us shade in the summer, adorned in colour in autumn and with skeletal beauty in winter.

But we also admit we live in a broken world. There are wars, unnecessary killings, greed and terrible tragedies. A look at television or the papers portray only too clearly unbelievable horrors in all parts of the world. But that is not the final chapter. We have just celebrated the coming of Jesus. God is writing the final chapter. Eventually all will be light and joy, darkness will be vanquished. ‘He promises peace to His people.’ Psalm 85:5